Birds in flight, advice wanted

[miah]

Thanks for the tip, canon816, it's a brand new camera, so I will check to see if there's an issue that might need warranty attention. That would be a real bummer if it did, but better to find out now.

Lnguyen1203: Your baseline information is extremely helpful and your osprey looks great at 1/2000. I have to figure out why slowly gliding sandhill cranes moving at a fraction of the speed of your hunting osprey required 2X the speed to stop...

natureshots: My tripod had a loose panning head--even worse--and I was jerking it around, trying as best I could to steady it, then fire when the birds flew into my FOV. Thanks for your input and references. The one comment I kept making to my wife as I got better and better at zeroing in on my settings was that my results were shockingly INCONSISTENT. This may have been, as you pointed out, due to the herky-jerky nature of that tripod!

Packlight: 10-4

 

[natureshots]

Thanks for the tip, canon816, it's a brand new camera, so I will check to see if there's an issue that might need warranty attention. That would be a real bummer if it did, but better to find out now.

Lnguyen1203: Your baseline information is extremely helpful and your osprey looks great at 1/2000. I have to figure out why slowly gliding sandhill cranes moving at a fraction of the speed of your hunting osprey required 2X the speed to stop...

natureshots: My tripod had a loose panning head--even worse--and I was jerking it around, trying as best I could to steady it, then fire when the birds flew into my FOV. Thanks for your input and references. The one comment I kept making to my wife as I got better and better at zeroing in on my settings was that my results were shockingly INCONSISTENT. This may have been, as you pointed out, due to the herky-jerky nature of that tripod!

Packlight: 10-4

I can pretty much guarantee that's what's causing the problems. I am very happy handholding and generally this is the best technique for BIF. Some lenses are extremely heavy and hand holding is too difficult but your lens should not fall into that category. If it is definitely too heavy for you your best bet is getting a gimbal head (I recommend the wimberley WH-200). Most will prefer shooting by hand to a gimbal head if they can for BIF but gimbal heads are your second best bet. Gimbals still can be restrictive for birds too far over head or super fast movement but if you can pan more smoothly that will give you the best results. Natural handshake is invisible at 1/2000+ but that speed is still vulnerable to improper panning (i.e. from using a ball-head for BIF). People who pan well can generally get good shots at 1/1000, that is enough to freeze wing motion on larger birds and once your are accustomed to smooth panning you can experiment with slower shutter speeds. If you check those references you will get access to an incredible volume of advanced sharpness techniques. You could spend weeks reading on how to improve your photography. Also for correct exposure I recommend using evaluative metering and doing some experimenting with dialing in the right exposure compensation. This will definitely give you the most consistent and quickest results but has a slightly larger learning curve then other techniques. You will have to learn to evaluate sun position, bird highlights/shadows to get the right shot and this is what most pros use for BIF. If you shoot raw you will have the ability to adjust for the mistakes you make early on.

 

[miah]

Thanks again, natureshots, your advice is very helpful.

I just ordered a new tripod and much better ball head. Perhaps I'll order a gimbal head too, but only after I see how well I do/don't do with handheld panning.

Do you have a preferred method of handholding for BIF? Is standing better than sitting, for instance, or the other way around? And how about Image Stabilization. My EF 35-350 doesn't have it and some BIF shooters say it's essential. Others say "turn it off even if you have it." Then there are the lenses, like my 70-300 DO, that have two IS modes, including one for panning. Any advice there?

I really appreciate your input. Thanks.

 

[miah]

After applying a little bit of everyone's advice, I took my 5D out this morning for a second attempt to nab a bird in flight. This marsh hawk was shot at 1/2000, hand-held, f/5.6, EC +1-1/3, ISO 1000, Tv, Spot metering, 350mm, 11:30 AM, center AF with 4 expansion points. Some of the sky was cropped out. Minimal contrast correction and sharpening were applied.

It's not razor sharp or perfectly lit, but it's a whole lot better than what I was getting before. I can tell this BIF-thing is going to be a lot of fun. Thanks again for everyone's input.

 

[Lnguyen1203]

Miah, I think this is a very decent shot. You had the eye in focus and sharp. Congrats.

 

[natureshots]

Thanks again, natureshots, your advice is very helpful.

I just ordered a new tripod and much better ball head. Perhaps I'll order a gimbal head too, but only after I see how well I do/don't do with handheld panning.

Do you have a preferred method of handholding for BIF? Is standing better than sitting, for instance, or the other way around? And how about Image Stabilization. My EF 35-350 doesn't have it and some BIF shooters say it's essential. Others say "turn it off even if you have it." Then there are the lenses, like my 70-300 DO, that have two IS modes, including one for panning. Any advice there?

I really appreciate your input. Thanks.

I've heard IS adds to sharpness but not for 350mm. Once you are a good deal past 500mm then IS becomes useful, otherwise you have the chance of losing shots while the IS readjusts to your pan. Some IS systems are better or worse when it comes to high speed pans. Experimentation is usually a good idea but at 350mm on a full frame I wouldn't waste my time messing around because I'm nearly positive you will get better results without IS. That being said I usually leave my IS on because every time I turn it off I forget to turn it back on when I return to shooting stationary subjects and I rarely have problems.
When shooting BIF the second image mode is rarely useful unless you are panning in a perfect plane which is highly unlikely in real life.
I stand usually because it is easier to crane my head around and adjust to unusual flight patterns unless I am concealing myself from the birds in a low position. When crouched or sitting I tend to have many more problems keeping up a good pan but its better than scaring off all the wildlife I spent 15 minutes trying to get close to.

 

[Nazareth]

haven't read al lthe posts, matybe someoen sai this al;ready- but prefocus by focussing on objects i nthe general distance as the birds are flying- just roughly gauge it- then swing lens to the birds in flight, and it will locate and lock focus much quicker and more accurate with less lens hunting-